Sure, the new movie The Wackness — about a New York City teen whose weed-dealing exploits take him all over the city in the summer of ‘94 — is chock-full of references to Zimas, pagers, Kurt Cobain, and A Tribe Called Quest. But really, how on the money is it? To find out, we consulted another film about New York City teens that was actually filmed in 1994: Larry Clark’s burnout-teens vérité Kids. What’s more true to the NYC nineties we remember: Zima or AIDS? Let’s take a look. —Piper Weiss
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Kids |
The Wackness |
Story line |
NYC kids spend one day in the summer of ‘94 smoking weed and deflowering virgins. |
NYC prep-school kid spends the summer of ‘94 dealing weed and getting himself deflowered. |
Uniform |
Backpacks, loose T-shirts, baggy khakis, Adidas. |
Backpacks, loose T-shirts, baggy khakis, Adidas. |
References to Giuliani, Kurt Cobain, pagers, and 90210 |
Zero. |
Eight. |
References to AIDS |
Too many to count. |
Zero. |
Uses of the word "wack" |
Zero. |
Too many to count. |
Creepy real-life character from the streets of New York |
The "I have no legs" guy on the subway. |
Mary-Kate Olsen. |
Dramatic slow-motion walking scene |
A group of kids with 40s walking down the Park Avenue median. |
Ben Kingsley and Josh Peck strolling down a street, bridge in the background. |
Main character's worst fear realized |
Getting AIDS. |
Moving to New Jersey. |
Reaction from a New Yorker who was actually a teen in 1994 |
Aside from all the sex, fairly realistic. |
Totally unbelievable: We never added a suffix to the word "wack." |